Surrey Fusion Fest
Surrey’s 10th annual Fusion Fest takes place on July 22nd and 23rd.
A Thank You card from the citizens of Surrey will be presented to the Government of Canada, as part of the Canada 150 Celebration, and the 10th anniversary of the Surrey Fusion Festival, just to say ‘Thank you’.
Inside of the card are the following words:
THANK YOU for helping to make Canada an inclusive and welcoming nation. We are fortunate to live in a country that celebrates its diverse range of backgrounds and beliefs of its citizens. Together our contributions make Surrey a thriving and vibrant community.
There have been many Surrey residents who have already signed the card in one of the languages they are fluent in, and had a photo taken with the card.
Do you want to become a part of this event?
If you are a resident of Surrey, and are fluent in one of the languages listed below, please show up on Saturday at the FREE Surrey Fusion Festival in Holland Park.
We are looking for people to write ‘Thank you’ in their language, sign their name underneath, and then be photographed with the card. (Please be aware, that the first person to present themselves, with one of the below-listed languages, will be selected to sign the card.)
Many thanks to the 50 folks who have already signed the card, and represented their languages.
The languages not yet represented, are (in no particular order):
Hindi, Urdu, Cantonese, Persian, Japanese, Dari, Bengali, Sinhala, Tamil, Lao, Malyalam, Portuguese, Albanian, Pashto, Cambodian, Romanian, Karen, Pushto, Amharic, Swahili, Burmese, Indonesian, Panjabi, Telugu, Faroese, Sindhi, Kurdish, Malay, Creole, Tigrinya, Yoruba, Indo Iranian, Slovak, Khmer, Cebuano, Afrikaans, Iloko, Bulgarian, Niger-Congo, Aramaic, Ewe, Dinka, Finnish, Konkani, Sundanese, Tibetan, Bosnian, Chechen, Hebrew, Jamaican Creole, Kannada, Swedish, Hiligaynon, Kinyarwanda, Pampanga, Acoli, Armenien, Luo (Kenya and Tanzania), Marathi, Nubian languages, Oromo, Shona, Assamese, Danish, Ido, Igbo, Sino-Tibetan (Other), Guarani, Hmong, Lozi, Niger-Kordofanian (Other), Thagaloo, Abkhazian, Afro-Asiatic (Other), Avaric, Bini, Fukien, Ganda, Hausa, Kanuri, Lithuanian, Macedonian, Malagasy, Norwegian, Pahari, Rajasthani, Sarsi, Semitic (Other), Tonga, Waray, Akkadian, Azerbaijani, Balinese, Bikol, Efik, French/African Patois, Halkomelem, Hare, Ingush, Kachin, Kwakw’ala, Lingala, Luganda, Maltese, Mongolian, Nahuatl, Nilo-Saharan (Other), North Ndebele, Nzima, Oriya, Pangasinan, Quechua, Squamish, Upper Sorbian, Uzbek, Vai, and Yugoslavian.
I will be in the Canada Pavilion from 12:00 to 3:00 on Saturday, July 22nd, with this wonderful card for you to sign.
The Surrey Fusion Festival is a free celebration of multiculturalism and diversity, and all are welcome to join in, and enjoy the festivities. I look forward to seeing everyone there!
For more details about the 2017 Surrey Fusion Festival, please click this link!
SFU Surrey Campus Expansion
Today there was a remarkable announcement made by Prime Minister Trudeau, Premier Clark, Mayor Hepner and SFU President Petter, regarding the SFU Surrey campus expansion.
This is a great collaboration of all levels of government, which make this new expansion possible.
The architecture of the late Bing Thom leaves the Downtown Surrey core with legacy building for all to enjoy.
It was said today that “all great Cities have great Universities”. Well said, Mayor Hepner!
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Surrey Fire Fighters Annual Boot Drive
Stop by Guildford Mall, this weekend, and you can help our Surrey Fire Fighters out with their Annual Boot Drive.
A great photo opportunity with a very unique antique fire truck… and the proceeds go to Muscular Dystrophy and the BC Professional Firefighters Burn Fund.
Surrey’s First Agriculture Week
Today in the Plaza at Surrey City hall, we ended (in fine fashion) Surrey’s first Agriculture Week. The week was a great success in our first year and I hope we can take the positive feedback from the attendees and grow (pun intended) this event that highlights the importance of food security and the vastness of our agriculture in Surrey.
The bus tours on Tuesday and Wednesday identified the priorities of preserving our ALR land base in Surrey and Metro Vancouver. Participants were Metro Vancouver planners, elected officials and their staff and our own Agricultural Food Security Advisory Committee (AFSAC) members. Visits were made to Evergreen Herbs, Heppell Potato Corporation, John Volken Academy (Bio Pod), International Herbs and Nicomekl Farms. Thanks to the owners for taking time out of their busy schedule to show us their operations.
On Thursday an Agriculture Land Lease Workshop was held at City hall to roll out the City’s Farmable Now website that is developed to identify and match up future farmers with land owners that have unused farm property. Thanks to the Ministry of Agriculture and Vancity for their sponsorship with this ground-breaking (yes pun intended again) program. On Friday the City hosted the field to food speaker’s forum regarding the Dairy Industry.
The culmination of the first Agricultural week finished with Pie in the Plaza. The rain did not stop BC’s largest blueberry pie from being constructed and deconstructed on site. Many visitors to this free event got a piece of this pie. Thanks to Mark from Price Pro and his crew for building this 8 foot (diameter) blueberry pie and handing out pie to the attendees. The event wrapped up with what I will call the “revenge of the mascot farm animals.” Members of AFSAC, Mike Gay, Bill, Pat and I, lined up to get a pie in the face from various farm mascots. A fan favourite to say the least.
Thanks to all of the Staff and volunteers who set up (in the rain) and tore down Pie in the Plaza. This event could not take place without you!
As part of Agriculture week, our Farm to Table event continues until the end of September. Please take some time to enjoy a Sunday dinner (Tuesday in South Surrey) that features our local farms, which translates to better tasting foods and supports our local economy. (https://mikestarchuk.com/farm-fresh-september/)
The participating restaurants are:
• Bozzinnis – 13655 104 Avenue
• Elements Casino – 17755 60 Avenue
• Maharaja Restaurant – 8148 128 Street
• Old Surrey Restaurant – 13483 72 Avenue
• Royal Oak Restaurant – 15336 Fraser Highway
• Tap Restaurant – 101-15350 34 Avenue ***
• The Taphouse 15330 102A Avenue
*** Tap Restaurant will offer their menu on Tuesdays in September, as the restaurant is closed on Sundays.
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Farm Fresh September
Over the past 18 months, I have been working on ideas to support our local farmers and finding a way to showcase their produce. As the Chair of Surrey’s Agricultural Food Security Advisory Committee, I am elated to introduce a pilot project that showcases locally produced/grown/raised/processed food that will be on the menus of our Surrey restaurants in September. Each town centre has representation and will be offering their preparation of Surrey local food on Sundays in September, with the exception of South Surrey, where Tap Restaurant will be offering their local menu on Tuesdays.
One third (1/3) of the City of Surrey is in the Agricultural Land Reserve. To keep the public aware of this, the menus have been developed to have a minimum of two thirds (2/3) of the menu items coming from the City. As we move through the month of September, those farms that are providing the restaurants their menu items, will be featured on various media platforms.
For more information regarding our local farms and markets go to:
https://www.surrey.ca/3463.aspx
Please take some time to enjoy a Sunday dinner (Tuesday in South Surrey) that features our local farms — which translates to better tasting foods — and supports our local economy.
The participating restaurants are:
• Bozzinnis – 13655 104 Avenue
• Elements Casino – 17755 60 Avenue
• Maharaja Restaurant – 8148 128 Street
• Old Surrey Restaurant – 13483 72 Avenue
• Royal Oak Restaurant – 15336 Fraser Highway
• Tap Restaurant – 101-15350 34 Avenue ***
• The Taphouse 15330 102A Avenue
*** Tap Restaurant will offer their menu on Tuesdays in September, as the restaurant is closed on Sundays.
Click here to read the City of Surrey Media Release regarding Agricultural Week & Farm Fresh Sundays
I Gave Life
It took about 60 minutes to donate blood this afternoon.
I found out today… from Nancy… that it can take less time if you fill out the questionnaire on line and bring in your bar code to your appointment.
So before we get to our BC Day long weekend, book your appointment at https://myaccount.blood.ca/en/donate, fill out your questionnaire online, and come in.
You have the power to give life by donating blood.
#IGaveLife #ItsInYouToGive
